Kaduna rulers, Fulani leaders agree to end killings

MONARCHS and heads of Fulani herdsmen in warring Southern Kaduna have agreed to end incessant attacks and killings.

This is part of resolutions reached in a meeting at the Nigerian Army School of Artillery, Kachia.

Convened by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division Major General Adeniyi Oyebade, participants agreed to stop violence, illegal display of arms and hiring of mercenaries to carry out attacks.

The meeting was attended by the GOC, Police chief, top military officers, about 10 monarchs, including chief of Godogodo, national president of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), heads of Fulani communities and others.

The GOC said the meeting resolved to stop children from grazing, having identified it as one source of farmers/herdsmen clash.

His words: “We agreed that there will be a stop to violence. We want to encourage the setting up of peace and reconciliation committees at ward, district and local government levels by Fulani herdsmen, locals and others.

“Their focus will be to continue the effort which started here today to deal with local issues that may trigger violence.

“It has also been agreed that children will stop grazing cattle in Kaduna and in the Northwest. The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association has promised to ensure that children are disallowed from shepherding their cattle because it has been identified as one of the areas of conflict since the children do not know their boundary.

“In the case of destruction of farms or killing of cattle, the perpetrators will be brought before the committees with the aim of administering justice.

“It was also agreed that in the next few days, efforts will be made to call all those carrying weapons to stop forthwith. The use of weapons by anybody other than security agents is illegal and security officers and agencies will take actions against any group that violates this decision, effective from November 1.

“We will not tolerate any display of arms by any group and we implore all to send the message across to your people that the use of arms is prohibited and seen as a violation of the laws of the country.

“Effective November 1, anyone found blocking the roads will be dealt with”, General Oyebade said.

He urged stakeholders to be mindful of introducing ethnicity and religion into the crisis, saying “we must be wary of the fact that this is a course of action that will do no good to anybody, we must look at these issues and deal with them appropriately.

The GOC went on: “These resolutions are by no means exhaustive, whatever efforts, individually or collectively, that could be brought to the table, please feel free to do that in the spirit of peace and unity.

‘’The security forces will remain deployed in the volatile areas to ensure that any violations of some of the decision we have reached are dealt with speedily.”